Julie McDonald Zander

www.chaptersoflife.com As an editor at The Daily News in Longview, Washington, Julie McDonald Zander recalled a brainstorming session to come up with names for a new soft feature about people. Jaded journalists viewed her as a naïve optimist when she offered the trite but true title: “Everyone’s special.” Although it fell flat as a feature title, her offering is a deeply held belief. After earning a bachelor's degree in communications and political science from the University of Washington, she worked a decade as a newspaper reporter and nine years as a newspaper editor. Then, in 1999, she started my personal history business, Chapters of Life, which has published more than 50 individual, family, business, community, and organizational histories. She likes to encourage others and share what she's learned along life's journey. She served four years as Northwest regional co-coordinator for the Association of Personal Historians, organized the 2006 APH conference in Portland, and edited newsletters for the Oregon Christian Writers and Women Entrepreneur Organization of Washington. She co-chaired the OCW Cascade Writing Contest, designed the OCW summer conference notebook, and organized the Southwest Washington Writers Conference for four years. And, to keep her hand in journalism, she has penned a column once a week for The Chronicle in Centralia, Washington, since May 2007. She and her husband, Larry, have two grown children. They live in the Northwest.